Blinding
by Chiere
Summary: Holy water cannot help you now. I have to burn your kingdom down. SasuSaku. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura is seated at her dresser, adorned in a light pink nightgown that hangs to her ankles, the spaghetti straps sliding off her shoulders.

She sees him through the reflection of her mirror.

He stands there, contemplative and silent. She shoots him a look through the glass before she lets her eyes return to focus on herself. She holds her medium length, pink hair in a bundle in her hands, brushing it softly and slowly.

A small smile makes its way onto her face as a few minutes pass and he has still not said a word. She continues brushing her hair, though the act is more to keep her hands busy than one of actual necessity.

She is not surprised or scared that he is here, but she does wonder who he is and why he has not bothered to say a word of hello, to announce his presence even though she's more than aware of it.

She begins to believe she is only imagining that he is there as more time passes, and the comfortable silence changes into a feeling that is almost irritating. But then he starts towards her and her breathing hitches in her throat, her grip unconsciously tightens around the handle of the brush, and she stops her ministrations on her hair.

She sees his eyebrows raise, curious and a bit amused as to why she has suddenly become so nervous.

Maybe she had expected him to leave or to not have really been there, and the fact that he was moving and approaching her only proved her wrong.

Her hand is still frozen in place, but she has overcome the initial shock enough to look up and lock her eyes with his. She has not been able to turn around to face him yet.

"Who are you?" Her voice comes out just above a whisper. That question almost seems to catch him by surprise. It gets him to stop mid-step, he's only a foot away and though he has stopped moving, an air of apprehensiveness still surrounds her.

"I'm the one who's removing you from this place."

That didn't answer her question, and she frowned momentarily in response. His expression is neutral; his mouth is pressed in a thin line. It is obvious to her that she won't get much out of him, not unless she goes along with him.

"…you know why I'm here?" She lays the brush down on the top of the dresser, and then presses her hands to the edge of the furniture as she pushes her chair away, allowing her the space to get up when she chooses to.

She swivels around on the cushion of her chair in time to see him nodding his head _yes_ in response to her question. Of course he knew, why else would anyone else be up here? She had been alone for quite a while because no one dared to come too close.

That simple fact was enough for her to believe that this man was either foolish or desperate, however he looked neither. It was hard to read into his true intentions and that only made her feel even more wary of this man.

He held out his hand for her to take and she didn't hesitate to place her palm in his. And indeed he was neither, if she were any other girl, the power that radiated off of him may have overwhelmed her, but it simply caught her off guard. That only raised more questions, but she knew better than to ask him, as she knew she would get no answers, _not yet_.

He gently pulled her upright, immediately giving her a once over. She did the same to him. He was a good two or three inches taller than her, he was dressed strange to her, but then again, she hadn't seen a person in a while. She hadn't noticed before that his eyes were almost pitch black.

The lack of emotion present on his face when he stared at her made her feel like she had disappointed him somehow. Did she expect her to look different?

Her insecurities disappeared as quickly as they had appeared when he gave a nod of approval.

His hand closed around hers as he turned on his heels and started towards the door. She followed closely behind him. She only hesitated when they got to the boundaries between the door and the hallway.

He still held his hand in hers and he looked back at her curiously. The uneasiness was evident on her face and by the way she bit down lightly on her bottom lip.

"Come on, it's fine." She didn't seem to believe him and he picked up on it as he raised his other hand to hers. He wrapped his fingers around the ring on her left finger, quickly; he slid the ring off her hand and pocketed the jewelry. She was fleetingly unnerved by the fact that he decided to keep the object but quickly waved off the feeling in favor of a smile.

A weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She did not look back to the room as she stepped through the door and followed him down the steps and outside of the mansion.

She had no shoes and the concrete felt like it was burning through her skin, and it felt strangely good. She let her eyes scan over the expanse of the area in front of the mansion and then her eyes traveled up to the sky. She looked directly into the sun for only a moment before tightly shutting her eyes. The wind was blowing lightly and the sun was bearing down on her relentlessly—waves of unfamiliar feelings were hitting her all at once and she laughed.

"Thank you." She spoke too loudly and it was obvious by the look that he shot her, but she paid no mind to it, because she was truly happy in this moment.

* * *

**Note: **I don't know where this came from yo, and I only have a vague idea of where it's going, but hopefully some of you guys want to stick around to find out. I can already tell I'm going to have fun writing this.

**Disclaimer: **lyrics in summary are not mine. I was listening to Florence + the Machine when writing this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: **I changed tenses because I hate present tense, I realized. So, I'll probably edit the first chapter sometime soon. Nothing will have changed, though.

.

.

.

"You need better clothes." He turned to her, eyeing her silently with a hint of curiosity in his gaze. Sakura was quietly muttering ow's under her breath as she tiptoed across the ground. The feeling of the hot earth beneath her feet had grown tiresome quickly. Amused, he added, "And shoes."

She nodded, not noticing the small smirk that was playing on his features at how difficult she was finding it to simply walk.

They were approaching the forest, the area where the concrete ended and the uneven pathway of fallen leaves began. Even though it would not burn her feet anymore, the dirt was littered with rocks and insects that she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid in their entirety. The thought itself made her shutter.

She had missed most of the outside world, but there were a few things that she remembered that she hated and that she had been fine without.

Insects and the unrelenting heat were among those things that she had not missed. She had been fine in the room that she had, after a long while, finally been able to accept as her own.

But the pros heavily outweighed the few cons that she could think of. The breeze felt wonderful and finally being able to see more of the world and how it had changed was exhilarating. Seeing the world through the sole window that was in her room was far from satisfactory. It had only faced in one direction, and all she could see for miles was the thick green of the top of the trees of the forest. And the trees never changed, even during the fall and winter, when the leaves usually changed colors and fell from their branches, the trees of this forest stayed a vibrant green. She had always thought the winter was an ugly season—that's when everything _died_—but she found herself wishing from her room that something would change to show that time was moving on instead of standing still, or to give her something different to view every now and again.

But her thoughts weren't of the irritation of the ever thriving forest anymore; it was now on what she could do now that she was out. So many things she had missed and she many things to catch up on. But then there was this man she was travelling with, and while he was being nice—or a better word would be _tolerant_—she knew she was still a captive with just a little extra room to breathe.

It was best not to think of the negatives of her situation as of right now.

She missed food, which was her main objective. She had self-sustained herself for so long, and now she was able to stop. Now she was _hungry_. She wanted to taste an apple, to drink some tea, and to eat a whole box full of chocolate candies. Her stomach growled at the thought of all that she had gone without for so long.

As if reading her mind, he said to her, "There's a village up ahead."

She frowned momentarily—_how far exactly?—_she didn't ask before she began speeding up, breaking into a sprint. The leaves crunched underneath her feet and her pink hair whipped around in the wind. She almost tripped over the length of her nightgown and she grabbed at the ends, hoisting the clothing up as she continued her run through the forest. She heard the loud sigh that emitted from the man's mouth behind her before she heard his feet hitting the ground as he broke into a run beside her.

.

.

.

It wasn't long before they reached the village. She wasn't use to the exercise and she was panting heavily by the time she made it there. She had expected something more lively for a village, but it was rather dreary and detached. People trudged along with not a look in another person's direction. Some woman had dropped her bag full of produce and no one even spared her a glance or attempted to help. If she weren't hungry, she would've suggested they had gone somewhere else—somewhere more inviting. She had yet to understand that the world had changed and there were not many places like that anymore.

The man beside her didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Like everything here was normal (maybe it was, times changed, but it was definitely a culture shock to her).

Her first priority had been food, but she was abruptly pulled into a nearby shop. She shouted faint protests before he eventually let go of her arm.

"Fill two bags worth of clothes. That will be enough for now. You can get more when we arrive home," he deadpanned before leaning against the nearest wall.

_Home?_ That was laughable. Sakura didn't even know the man's name yet and he already expected her to call a place she didn't know her home. Her displeasure was evident on her face but he ignored it. She was prompted to simply stand there, glaring at him and demanding some answers, but she turned in favor of browsing the array of clothes in front of her.

Two bags would definitely not be enough.

She had to settle for her top ten outfits, one of which she put on, which consisted of a simple, pink sundress, and a pair of heels for the weather (she wasn't used to clothes being this short, but she felt like the unrestraint was something she could get used to) and then crumpled up the nightgown she had been wearing—she couldn't bear to throw it away so she shoved it in her bag.

She handed the bags to him as she searched the village for a place to eat.

.

.

.

She was seated across from him at a booth in a restaurant they—or she—had decided on. He hadn't seemed to care much where she went and only gave her a grunt in response to the place she had chosen. She stared at the menu intently, her eyes widening at all the choices that were presented to her.

"I want it all," she announced, peering over the menu to look for the black haired man's reaction. He only shrugged and she frowned. The menu was laid flat in front of him and she was wondering if he had even looked at it, or was she the only one hungry?

"Are you going to order something?"

He let out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. "Bread."

Her frown only deepened at how obvious it was that he was trying to get to stop speaking. She pressed on anyways, "That's not really a meal."

He didn't even give her a decency of a response to that. He simply waved her off, averting his attention as if he had found something way more interesting outside of the window.

She pouted before returning her attention to the menu in front of her. It wasn't too long before a waitress approached them; an obvious fake smile plastered on her face as she gave her hello's and asked for their orders. The man across from her ordered exactly what he had said before, bread, and she ordered an entrée, appetizer, and dessert all for herself.

She gave the waitress a short smile before handing her the menu. She focused all her attention on the man in front of him, staring at him in an attempt to try to figure him out. It would be a while, not only for the food, but it would be a while that she would be stuck with him and she…knew nothing about him.

"If you have something to ask, then do it," he spoke suddenly, ripping her from her thoughts.

Her question was obvious, but she was forced to say it anyways. "Why am I here? What exactly do you want from me?" She had been grateful, of course, being let out of her prison, but it only invited questions that he was more than well aware of.

"That's a stupid question." She narrowed his eyes at him. She had a basic idea of what he wanted but she needed the details. "Your power, of course."

When she had touched him before, she had felt extreme power coming from him. What exactly did he need hers for? "I'm sure you have more than enough."

The small smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth was proof that he knew that he was powerful, but it only served to confuse her more. Then why was she needed?

"Your power is different. People went to great measures to lock you up and for good reason," he explained simply. It was obvious that he was impressed by the one of his voice and the slight nod of his head as he spoke.

She had been angry back then, though, and she didn't know if that constituted as a real display of power or not. Rage brought forth a lot of different talents that you never knew you could have. Could she do it again? Possibly, but not to the same scale, she was sure.

She didn't say anything for a moment, pursing her lips as she stared back at him. "What's in it for me?" _My freedom? After I help you, will you let me go?_ Those questions were on the tip of her tongue but she knew better than to expect a 'yes' to them. There were always more that someone could think of to keep her around longer.

"You get to be my queen."

That was the last response she had expected and she wasn't sure exactly how she was supposed to react. Was she supposed to be flattered? Excited? She bypassed the disappointment and annoyance that she should've felt.

She settled for amusement as she flashed him a smile and let out a small, childish laugh at the thought. "Why would I want that?" It wasn't meant to be offensive, obvious by the light, teasing tone of her voice.

"Why wouldn't you?" came his simple response to her question.

Arrogance—that was not an attractive trait on any man, yet here she was, smiling and very, very curious. He was a handsome man, and she could let that pass over.

She didn't have the chance to say another word before a ring was placed onto the table between them. She looked from him to the diamond-encrusted jewelry piece. It was beautiful and it was for _her_. She eagerly reached across the table, grabbing the ring.

She froze when she felt the magic radiating off of it. Her smile was instantly replaced with a scowl as she looked up to him. He knew that she had sensed it, but he had the nerve to act completely guiltless.

"You give me an engagement ring, telling me that we are to be married, yet I don't even know your name," she began, playing with the ring between her fingers. She wasn't stupid enough to simply slip it on; she might never be able to remove it. "And you remove me from a cage, only to place me in another."

"Uchiha Sasuke." It was an abrupt way to state his name and for a moment she thought he was speaking in a language unfamiliar to her. She soon realized he was giving her his name. Her first instinct was to reply with hers as well, but he must've known, he probably knew everything about her. "And the ring, it's simply insurance."

She didn't like the sound of that last statement. That meant if she put on the ring, she would be on a leash. If she placed the ring on her fingers, he was in control.

She had no chance to decide before his arm was stretched across the table top, removing the ring from her hands and placing it on her left hand. Instinctively, she pulled her hands back, attempting to remove the ring. It did not budge from her fingers and the most she could do was hopelessly sigh.

"_Queen_. That does have a nice ring to it."

.

.

.

**Note: **I think I've been watching too much of the Originals. This is inspired by it, kind of loosely.


End file.
